“what isn’t clear at all is whether a team that was softer than melted pudding last year has suddenly grown a heart.”

….Ouch.

He is entitled to his opinion and is probably far from the last person to disrespect the Rangers. I think they will be much better than 13th in the east, and instead finish close to the playoff race. I have gone on record before writing that I believe the team can finish 7th or 8th and their is nothing to stop me from staying with that prediction.

The one thing that I worry about is building them up too much, at least in my mind. Meaning, you read all the positives in their informal practices and we will read about all the positives and improvements in training camp but nothing really matters until the puck is dropped, at first against the Devils on September 23rd and then in Buffalo on October 9th. That is when everything comes back to reality.

The official prediction for the Hockey News is for the Rangers to finish in 13th